Newcastle United’s FIVE Statistically Worst Managers of All Time

Directors, Managers, Players – the good, the bad & the ugly. One thing withstands – Newcastle United Football Club. Looking back at greats to grace the NUFC dugout we reminisce the likes of Sir Bobby Robson, Kevin Keegan & Joe Harvey. But who are the forgotten men? Those whose tenure was filled with sorrow and regret.

Here are the 5 statistically worst NUFC managers of all time.

#5. Kevin Keegan (16/1/08 – 4/9/08 only)

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Our first choice may come as a surprise to many. King Kev was an unprecedented success at NUFC as both a player and manager, bringing us back from the brink and revitalizing a club on the decline on more than one occasion. Rightly so when Ashley brought him back in 2008 he was greeted with open arms and mass hysteria, little did we know we’d be relegated in just over 12 month time. Kevin’s second spell as NUFC boss was – to put it bluntly – uninspiring. He registered just a 28.57% win rate in 21 games at the helm before walking out on us in protest to the board over a ludicrous transfer regime headed by Dennis Wise.

#4. Joe Kinnear (26/9/08 – 7/2/09)

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Having been out of work for almost 4 years Joe succeeded the departed Kevin Keegan and oversaw the majority of our relegation during the 08/09 campaign. His tenure wasn’t without controversy, here’s just a few incidents:

JK refused to speak to national media whilst at the NUFC helm after a spat with Simon Bird, in which he referred to him as a “c*nt” and cited 52 expletives.

JK was also sent off after a confrontation with referee Mike Riley on 8thDecember 2008.

After Charles N’Zogbia expressed his desire to leave NUFC Kinnear referred to him as Charles Insomnia in a televised interview.

On the 7th February 2009 Joe was admitted to hospital and eventually underwent heart bypass surgery, spelling the end of his NUFC tenure. The only real positive we can take from Joe’s time at NUFC was his role in securing the signatures of Peter Lovekrands, Kevin Nolan & Ryan Taylor. However, the least said about his return in 2013 as Director of Football the better.

#3. Osvaldo Ardiles (26/3/91 – 5/2/92)

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Osvaldo started his career at Second Division Swindon Town, introducing a free-flowing attacking style with a then unheard of 4-4-2 diamond formation, leading them to their highest ever league position. In the midst of Swindon’s financial woes NUFC offered him the chance of becoming our new (and first ever foreign) manager. Osvaldo lasted just 12 months at St. James’ Park leaving us bottom in the Second Division, on the verge of relegation outside of the top two tiers of English football for the first time in our history – setting up a daring escape master-minded by none other than Kevin Keegan who’d begun his transformation of NUFC, and ultimately the birth of “The Entertainers”

#2. John Carver (1/1/15 – 9/6/15)

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John William Carver – where to begin? Aside from being the self-proclaimed “best coach in the Premier League” and his borderline insane ramblings of how Sir Bobby wanted him to manage our club he’s oversaw the worst run of Premier League results Newcastle United has ever seen (8 consecutive defeats) and took Alan Pardew’s comfortably mid-table side to the brinks of relegation. But you can read more about thathere.

#1. Alan Shearer (1/4/09 – 24/5/09)

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Perhaps harsh, statistically speaking Alan Shearer is our worst ever manager; yielding only a 12.5% win rate (1 in 8). Following Kinnear’s admittance to hospital Shearer came in to a side on the brink in a desperate (but failed) attempt to avoid relegation with a “too good to go down” squad. Relegation came after a 16-year stay in the Premier League as we lost 1-0 at Aston Villa on the final day thanks to a Damien Duff own goal. Post-Shearer Chris Hughton took a side in turmoil and guided us to our highest ever points tally and back to the Premier League where we belong.

His time on the player staff at Newcastle United is well documented, find out morehere.

@IAMNUFC on Twitter interestingly pointed out that 4/5 of our worst manager entries have been at the helm under Mike Ashley’s reign.

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I am the Editor of 'The Spectator's View'. I set up the website so that I could combine my two passions: Newcastle United and writing, and I hope for it to be a platform where fans can express their views on the club.
History Graduate from Durham University. Junior Account Executive at M&C Saatchi.

4 Comments on Newcastle United’s FIVE Statistically Worst Managers of All Time

“Post-Shearer Chris Hughton took a side in turmoil and guided us to our highest ever points tally and back to the Premier League where we belong.”
A tad unfair to hit Shearer for one in 8 and then praise Hughton for bringing us back up.
Shearer stepped in at the last minute to try to save us with injuries and a depleted team, while Hughton managed what was essentially a Premiership team, on premiership wages – playing against the likes of Peterborough, Plymouth and Barnsley in the Championship.
Newcastle’s wage bill at 50 million was bigger than half of the rest of the teams in the Championship combined.
To even compare his points total with other managers is outrageous when for 80 seasons before 80-81 other managers played fewer games and at the time received only 2 points for a win, and not the 3 awarded today.
This is why the only statistic that is relevant is goals for and goals against on the day.